The star, who died in hospital on Friday morning, certainly had a very colourful life.

His illness had seen Leslie return to the UK from Bulgaria, where he had been living after separating from his wife, Jane Laurie.

But who is Jane, and did they have any children? And has he faced any controversy in his life?

Here's everything you need to know about the actor's real family life, from his murder conviction to his charitable donations.

Leslie kisses wife Jane (Image: Mirrorpix)

Who is Leslie's estranged wife?

Actress Jane Laurie was born in Australia in 1952, and comes from a family of wine merchants.

Her father was the pioneer behind the boxed wine boom of the 1980s.

Jane and Laurie met at a London stage school in 1977.

And while he found fame in EastEnders, she appeared in the likes of The Return of the Soldier, Foreign Body and The Agatha Christie Hour.

Leslie with hise wife and one of his baby sons (Image: Daily Mirror)

She initially enjoyed much bigger success than her other half, but gave up acting when she became a mother and kept out of the public eye almost entirely.

When did they get married and do they have any children?

Jane and Leslie tied the knot in 1981, but divorced after 31 years of marriage in 2013.

They have three now grown-up children, named Spike, Jake and Danny.

What was the scandal that got him axed from Eastenders?

Leslie’s real-life drama eclipsed his soap scenes.

In May 2004, he was exposed after taking part in a sordid webcam sex session. Dressed as Captain Hook, he was seen in footage sucking his finger in a sexually suggestive way in his BBC dressing room.

It was revealed he spent hours in his dressing room at BBC studios indulging in his sordid desires on the internet and sending pictures of himself to younger women.

He also insulted Enders co-stars, including Shane Richie, Wendy Richard, Kim Medcalf and Jessie Wallace. Months later, the BBC said Leslie would be leaving the soap and on February 19, 2005 Dirty Den was killed off again for good.

Leslie with on-screen wife Ange (Image: BBC)

Leslie later said he tried to take his own life three times in the wake of the scandal. While his career took a battering, he felt so low he did not notice job offers drying up.

Leslie said in an interview: “I was probably in such a mindset I wouldn’t have noticed even if I’d been run down by a lorry. It suddenly dawns on you that you’ve made a terrible mistake.

“Of course I have regrets but you can’t go round wearing a hair shirt all your life, otherwise you’ll never get out of bed in the morning. I f***ed up, now I’m going to move on.”

Leslie’s wife Jane stood by him throughout the scandal, but their 31-year marriage ended in 2013 and Leslie resolved to stay single.

“I’ve messed up so many people’s lives, why mess up someone else’s?” he said of his decision. “I don’t get lonely because I have friends.”

Leslie made a donation to charity in order to apologise for his actions and also paid "personal tribute" to the four co-stars he criticised.

Has Leslie ever committed a crime?

Leslie is a convicted murderer, and said killing taxi driver Felix Reese at 19 haunted him for life.

Yet decades later, he remained unapologetic for shooting the 30-year-old in the head, never seeking forgiveness from his widow and daughter.

“It’s shame that I have to carry forever. It haunts me to this day. I despise myself for what I did. But I don’t think apologising serves any purpose. I cannot alter history. I only wish I could.”

He played Dirty Den (Image: BBC)

Leslie turned to crime while he was serving in the Army's Royal Fusiliers in Osnabruck, West Germany.

Leslie was trying to clear his beer debts with fellow soldiers, who had already attacked him by pressing an iron to his face.

He he had planned to rob a local man, once telling an interviewer: “Drunkenness was the order of the day at weekends and I did a lot of it. I was scared. I’d borrowed two months’ wages from various soldiers.

“So I decided to go for a solution many soldiers had used. ‘Rolling a German’, we called it.

“Having met a very drunk businessman, I walked with him for a while but couldn’t go through with it.

“I then caught a taxi back to the barracks and pulled out the gun, asking the driver for money. I only intended to use it as a threat. I didn’t know it was loaded.”

Leslie shot Felix in the head then, splattered with blood, ran back to his barracks. He was so terrified of being found out he said he was glad to be arrested by the Royal Military Police. But he lied about what he had done.

“At first I tried to deny all knowledge of what had taken place.

“But the guilt and remorse I would later experience were far worse than anything I had contemplated,” he said. In court, Leslie could not look Felix’s widow in the eye. “The enormity of what I’d done struck home,” he said. “I couldn’t look at her.”

The jury did not believe Leslie’s denials. He was given a life sentence and served 11 years in various British prisons, alongside feared gangsters like Krays’ sidekicks Tony and Chris Lambrianou, the Richardsons gang and Great Train Robbers.